Argentina kickstarts wheat sowings as soy harvest wraps up: BAGE

The wheat sowing campaign in Argentina is off to a flying start with 5% of the expected record area planted due to favourable weather, while the soybean harvest nears the finish line, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said in its weekly report.

The pace of wheat plantings is 1.9% ahead of last year’s pace, with an expected 6.8 million ha to be covered this marketing year.

At the same time, farmers are wrapping up the soybean harvest, with a total of 93.3% collected, up 5.9 points on the week and 8.3 points on the year.

It is set to be the fastest harvest since 2012/13 if the current pace continues.

Recent dry weather has allowed farmers to collect a staggering 44 million mt over the past 60 days of the total 47.2 million mt harvested, despite logistical setbacks due to the ongoing pandemic.

Yields are currently averaging at 2.99 mt/ha, and are expected to finish the season at 2.95 mt/ha, with the exchange’s production estimate kept unchanged at 49.5 million mt.

Finally, Argentina’s corn harvest continues to tick forward, with 43.5% now collected, up 3.5 points on the week and up 7.4 points on the year.

Yields remain close to expectations at 9.1 mt/ha, keeping BAGE's production forecast static at 50 million mt.